Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

TELEVISION

Cable to Spotlight Family Fare: A televised town hall meeting featuring Time Warner Vice Chairman Ted Turner, CBS Entertainment President Leslie Moonves, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Reed Hundt and independent producer Marcy Carsey will kick off “Tune In to Kids and Family Week,” an April 7-13 effort to showcase cable television’s “commitment to family-oriented programming.” Throughout the week, 75 cable networks--ranging from powerhouses HBO, Showtime and CNN to smaller broadcasters like Animal Planet, the Independent Film Channel and Ovation--will offer “family-friendly” shows from 8 to 9 p.m. The effort begins at 7:30 p.m. on April 7 with “The American Family and Television: A National Town Hall Meeting,” an effort to “create a dialogue” between the television industry and viewers, that will be broadcast simultaneously on eight networks, including Nickelodeon, USA and the Disney Channel. The forum--before a live audience of parents, educators, child advocates and others--will be taped March 17 at the National Cable Television Assn. in New Orleans. Journalist Linda Ellerbee will host the half-hour, commercial-free special.

MOVIES

End of German Scientology Rumble?: Tom Cruise’s Oscar-nominated “Jerry Maguire” opened without incident in Germany over the weekend to a strong box-office showing of $1.3 million. Anti-Scientology political groups who had tried to boycott last summer’s “Mission: Impossible” did not mount a similar effort against “Jerry Maguire.” In the past, films starring Cruise and fellow Scientologist John Travolta have been targets of largely unsuccessful boycotts by the Christian Democratic Union Party, particularly the party’s youth wing. Those actions raised the ire of a group of Hollywood celebrities who protested such treatment of Scientologists. “This is a very good opening for this film, especially if you consider it is about an American sport [football] that no one here is particularly interested in,” said Joe Fuhrmann of the Munich-based Entertainment Data Inc. “It looks as if [the Scientology issue] is finally behind us.”

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Elsewhere in Germany: Violinist and composer Yehudi Menuhin received Germany’s highest honor Tuesday at a ceremony tinged with clashing memories of the Holocaust and the nation’s cultural heritage. “I have never lost that feeling of respect for this great culture,” Menuhin, 80, said as he received the Great Order of Merit. Born to Russian Jewish parents in New York in 1916, Menuhin first played in Berlin in 1928. After World War II, he played a benefit concert for survivors at the Nazi death camp in Bergen-Belsen. “We Germans are happy to have you as our friend,” said Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, who called Menuhin “an ambassador of humanity and understanding between people and cultures.”

STAGE

CTG Culver City Bound?: Center Theatre Group’s long-awaited smaller theater might be the Culver Theater in Culver City. CTG, whose major programs are at the Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre, has entered into a 13-month exclusive negotiating agreement with the Culver City Redevelopment Agency to investigate using the theater, at 9820 Washington Blvd., as an additional, experimental theater. The Culver, built in 1945 as a movie theater, currently seats nearly 1,000, but the capacity would be reduced to the 400-500 range for CTG’s purposes. In 1995, CTG tried to develop a Westside space at Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station complex, but financing fell through.

POP/ROCK

Prince Baby’s Death Confirmed: Minneapolis authorities confirmed this week that they are reviewing the death of a baby boy born in October to the artist formerly known as Prince and his wife but declined to provide details. According to a death certificate, the boy lived only for a week; the cause of death is listed as complications caused by a rare skull deformity. The baby’s death had been rumored, but not previously confirmed.

QUICK TAKES

Howard Stern will be in town to celebrate Friday’s opening of his movie “Private Parts,” and tickets to attend live tapings of his radio show at an undisclosed location at 3 a.m. Thursday and Friday are reportedly going on the open market for $1,000 and up. Radio station KLSX-FM (97.1), which airs Stern in Los Angeles, distributed 450 tickets through listener giveaways. Stern will also be a guest on NBC’s “Tonight Show” on Friday. . . . The return of CBS’ “EZ Streets” fared a bit better than its first go-round. The critically lauded show attracted about 10.7 million viewers Monday, coming in second in its time slot. . . . Cloris Leachman, who fractured her foot Saturday afternoon while taking a curtain call after “Show Boat” at the Ahmanson Theatre, will be replaced starting tonight by Carole Shelley. An understudy performed the role Saturday night, Sunday and Tuesday. . . . Charlton Heston today will loan the staff he used as Moses to part the seas in “The Ten Commandments” to the American Film Institute, which plans to display the film prop at the AFI Showcase at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida. It will be the first public display ever for the staff.